The Katy master-planned community of Cane Island will host its highly anticipated grand opening, a two-day weekend celebration, March 5-6 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m., with 14 showcase models homes open for tour, live music, special prizes and more.

Visitors to Cane Island’s grand opening also will be among the first to tour the community’s all-new Amenity Village featuring a gorgeous family pool with adjacent splash pad, lap pool, two-story fitness center rivaling the finest health spas, yoga studio, spectacular glass-walled conservatory and poolside café. The Amenity Village also offers a community lawn shaded by rescued, 75-year-old oak trees.

Guests can meet Hub, the community’s Golden Retriever ambassador and visit his amazing Ambassador’s Suite overlooking the Amenity Village, a must-see during any visit to Cane Island. Visitors also can win prizes, take photos at the Cane Island Wishing Booth and pick up a souvenir Cane Island T-shirt, both while supplies last.

One of the most sought-after master-planned communities west of Houston, Cane Island offers new luxury homes from the $200’s to the millions, including those in gated sections and on prized cul-de-sac homesites from Coventry Homes, Toll Brothers, Ryland Homes, Shea Homes, David Weekley Homes, Perry Homes and Trendmaker Homes.

For directions to Cane Island and to sign up for e-mail updates from the community, go to CaneIsland.com.

Elected officials and community and hospital leaders attend the ribbon cutting at Memorial Hermann Katy’s new tower.

MEMORIAL HERMANN KATY REACHES NEW HEIGHTS WITH EXPANSION

Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital celebrated a major milestone with the official opening of its new 230,000-square-foot, six-story patient tower. With added capacity to multiple services, Memorial Hermann Katy is poised to accommodate the future growth of one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S..

“This is a monumental achievement for our staff at Memorial Hermann Katy, as well as our patients and the community,” said Dan Wolterman, president and CEO of Memorial Hermann Health System.

With medical expertise in 47 specialties, Memorial Hermann Katy has expanded its surgical suites, medical and surgical beds and labor and delivery department. At final build out, the six-story patient tower will have a total of 300 patient beds with rooms and views that offer a calm and healing environment. The hospital also has expanded its diagnostic imaging areas, intensive and intermediate care units, women’s services, sports medicine and endoscopy.

“Today is a testament to how far Memorial Hermann Katy has come as a top healthcare provider for this city,” said Jim Parisi, senior vice president and CEO, Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital.

The tower’s Level 2 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) will features private rooms for mothers and babies, and accommodations for overnight visitors. Mothers of multiples will now be able to accommodate two newborns in one private room.

The new patient tower brings with it 160 job opportunities, both clinical and administrative. Qualified candidates can visit memorialhermann.org/careers/. The hospital also is looking to bring on 40 additional volunteers.

Harris County ESD 48 Fire Department is proud to announce that after a lengthy interview process, the ESD 48 Commissioners and Fire Chief Jeff Hevey have selected Battalion Chief Les Fulgham for promotion to Assistant Chief of Operations. “Chief Fulgham has been an integral part of the success of our recent transition and has a long history of fire service leadership,” said Hevey. “He is an excellent choice to fill the role of assistant chief of operations.”

Fulgham has 33 years of experience in the fire service, beginning in December 1982 with the Alief Community Volunteer Fire Depart­ment. He served his community as a volunteer for nine years before moving out of the area. He retired as a more than 23-year veteran of the Houston Fire Department, assigned as a captain with Special Operations/ Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting. Fulgham has been a certified paramedic for 26 years and has held positions as a paramedic training preceptor, arff training officer, fire alarm dispat­cher, and a ladder truck engineer. He has been with the Willowfork Fire Department as a shift commander since its inception in Jan­uary 2003, and more recently he was hired by West I-10 VFD in March of 2015 as a district chief and transitioned over to the role of battalion chief with Harris County ESD 48 Fire Department when they took over all Fire and EMS services on Aug. 17.

He holds the following certifications with the Texas Commission on Fire Protection:

Cross Creek Ranch is welcoming a new builder as it prepares to release more than 100 homesites in its newest neighborhood, The Brooks.

Chesmar Homes is joining longtime Cross Creek Ranch builder Perry Homes in The Brooks, where homes will be priced from the $220,000s and range from 1,586 to 2,598 square feet. Cross Creek Ranch will be Chesmar’s 14th active Houston development when presales begin next year. Chesmar Homes also builds in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio and Charlotte, N.C.

“Chesmar Homes is well known in the Houston area for exacting construction standards and innovative design,” said Rob Bamford, general manager of Cross Creek Ranch. “We are excited to not only add them to our roster of builders, but to have them help launch this new large neighborhood.”

Perry Homes will feature its fourth series of homes for Cross Creek Ranch in The Brooks, with designs ranging from 1,600 to 2,500 square feet and priced from the $250,000s. The Brooks will have 106 homesites, including several waterfront properties. Families will be served by schools in the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District. The neighborhood is near the new Churchill Fulshear Junior High School and Dean Leaman Junior High School, opening in August 2016.

Bamford said he expects homesites to be delivered in early 2016 with model homes opening later in the year.

Cross Creek Ranch is a 3,200-acre development at the crossroads of FM 1463 and FM 1093. For more information, visit crosscreektexas.com.

Toll Brothers, America’s luxury home builder and a five-time winner of the Texas Builder of the Year award, has announced a new St. Paul Mission model home coming soon to The Reserve at Katy – Toll Brothers’ first boutique community in Katy and the Houston area.

The St. Paul home design is currently offered in The Reserve at Katy, boasting a dramatic two-story family room and striking library space on the second floor. More details are available at TollBrothers.com/Houston.

The Katy ISD Board of Trustees and Superintendent joined staff and community members on Jan. 6 as the District held a groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of the South Transportation Center at 3151 Falcon Landing Blvd. in Katy. This expansion of the South Transportation Center is one of many projects included in the voter-approved 2014 bond package.